The UBC Inclusive Campus team is currently recruiting participants for a CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) funded project that examines barriers and facilitators for students and clinicians with disabilities in healthcare professional programs and practice settings.
In particular, we are looking to speak with clinicians from Medicine and Nursing who live in British Columbia and identify as having a disability. An identified disability can be visible or non-visible (e.g. learning disability, physical disability, mental health disability).
There are a series of 3 interviews (45 – 60 minutes each) and you will be reimbursed $45 for your time, paid in incremental fashion.
Confidentiality will be strictly kept.
If you are interested or have further questions, please contact Courtney at court.rogers@alumni.ubc.ca to let us know!
It’s holiday time and we’ve dusted off Resilience Tip #23 on loneliness. To read an update and our five tips for increasing social connection, read the December 2015 issue of our e-newsletter, Our Voice. If you’re not a subscriber, you’ll want to fix that! It’s free!
Resilience Tip #23 [originally published March 2014]
by Shelley Hourston
Most of us know that social connections increase our resilience. However, we may not be aware that absence of a strong social network–loneliness–has a direct impact on our health. Loneliness is complicated by stigma. Admitting that you’re lonely is often perceived as admitting that you’re a failure in some way. Lonely people must surely be misfits or socially inept. Especially in this age of social networking, it’s easy to believe that loneliness must mean that you are truly unworthy of human connection or companionship.
Psychologist John Cacioppo notes that loneliness is a bigger problem than people realize and has serious consequences.* Chronic loneliness is linked to a range of health issues such as low immune function, heart disease, depression and ultimately a shorter life. Chronic or long-term social isolation increases our stress response as if our bodies are waiting for a dire threat. Cacioppo points to the evolutionary nature of this reaction. Being alone, for our distant ancestors, meant abandoning the protection of the group and jeopardizing one’s genetic contribution to the next generation.
Loneliness is not measured by the number of social connections we have but rather by the quality of those relationships. Our fast-paced, urban and insular lifestyle is often cited as a cause of loneliness. A Globe & Mail article** provides perspectives on loneliness, “the longing that dare not speak its name.” For those of us living with disabilities and chronic illness, addressing loneliness is vital. Strategies for increasing and improving social connections, however, are diverse and will require some self-reflection. If you feel that you could benefit from growing or nurturing your social network it may be useful to consider activities you enjoy and existing relationships you might enhance. If you have suggestions for ways of managing loneliness that have worked for you and that you’re willing to share, let me know and I’ll compile them for a future post. Contact Shelley at 604-875-0188 (toll-free 1-877-232-7400 or email shelley@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org.
* “Psychologist John Cacioppo explains why loneliness is bad for your health” (January 25, 2011). Available: http://tinyurl.com/kth7fr9
** Elizabeth Renzetti. “Life of solitude: A loneliness crisis is looming.” Globe & Mail (November 23, 2013). Available: http://tinyurl.com/kupgcys
Checklist for Change: HIV & Hepatitis C Stigma in Health Care produced earlier this year by DABC’s AIDS & Disability Action Program/Wellness & Disability Initiative has just been updated. The second edition incorporates feedback from health sciences students across the province. DABC thanks participating instructors and students from among 141 heath-related programs contacted, including programs such as Audiology & Speech Sciences, Community Mental Health Worker, Dental Hygiene, Health Care Assistant, Medical Radiography Technology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Assistant and Social Work.
“The purpose of Checklist for Change is to provide an overview of policies and service provider attitudes and behaviours that stigmatize, sometimes intentionally and often unintentionally. In presenting research results and service provider observations, DABC encourages everyone working with people living with HIV or hepatitis C (HCV) to reflect on their assumptions, judgments and communication skills. …In the words of one care provider interviewed: ‘I think that what happens is that people forget that every person who walks through the door is somebody’s brother, mother, sister, uncle or aunt and doing the very best they can in that moment.’ If you were speaking to your loved one with a health care need, ‘how would you approach them and can you offer the same level of respect for the person who is sitting in front of you?’” (Checklist for Change p. 3)
Checklist for Change is a short, reader-friendly orientation to HIV and HCV stigma within health care environments intended to stimulate discussion and awareness.
An update from our affiliate national non-profit, Disability Alliance Canada: Earlier this year, the #Alberta government decided that the Canada Disability Benefit (#CDB) will be
Earlier this year, the Alberta government decided that the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) will be considered “non-exempt” income for Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) recipients. …
project that examines barriers and facilitators for students and clinicians with disabilities in healthcare professional programs and practice settings.
